The present invention is related to a device for continuously measuring the temperature in pelletizing furnaces and, more particularly, to a system for continuously measuring the temperature in pelletizing and sintering furnaces, which is resistant to the aggressive environment found in the grate cars used for pelletizing and/or sintering operations.
It is known that in pelletizing and sintering processes it is always important to check the pellet burning range, in order to optimize the consumption of fuel used therein, besides assuring a suitable product quality; furthermore, said verification is required for evaluating the effect of the process temperatures on the thermal treatment of the grate cars.
Conventionally, in order to measure the temperature in the pelletizing grate cars, the operators promote short stops along the course of the grate car in order to insert temperature detectors on the sides thereof, thus detecting timely and promptly the temperature of the pellets, as well as that of the grate car, at that time.
Besides the fact that the grate car stop approach for measuring the temperature has been widely used, it brings about a number of drawbacks, examples of which can be the fact that the grate car stop generates distortions in the thermal balance of the furnace and also causes a random distribution throughout the pellet layer.
When such distortions occur, the actual process burning temperature cannot be attained, what it makes it difficult to get the aimed results and masks the measurement values.
In order to minimize the inconveniences of the grate car stops, the use of meters, called travelers, was then adopted, which meters were launched with the product as the burning process went on. This attempt has not attained compensating results, for the meters were submitted to a risk of irreversible damage, thus requiring the frequent collection thereof for analysis.
Therefore, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a device for continuously measuring the temperature in pelletizing furnaces that allows for a continuous measurement of the product while the grate car moves along the furnace, without the occurrence of damages to the meters or any interference in the pelletizing or sintering process.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for continuously measuring the temperature in pelletizing furnaces that allows for a continuous evaluation of the burning process temperature and its influence on the mechanical structures of the grate car that moves along the furnace, thus making it possible to optimize the fuel consumption and improving the product quality.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for continuously measuring the temperature in pelletizing furnaces that may have different temperature measuring sites in a single grate car, thus making it possible to analyze the pelletizing and/or sintering process temperature at different levels and sites of the product present on the grate car.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention are attained by using a device for continuously measuring the temperature in pelletizing furnaces comprising the provision of a plurality of temperature detectors disposed at fixed sites on the grate cars, which detectors are however selectively and vertically displaceable in relation to the grate car support plan and follow the latter along the furnace in order to continuously and instantaneously inform the actual burning temperature of the product at that site and/or product layer depth being burned and at each stage of said process; wherein all the detectors are connected to a data collector which is encapsulated and also attached to the grate car and follow the latter as it moves through the interior of the furnace, each data collector being interconnected by tightening lines to said detectors and permanently monitored by measuring units that receive and determine through graphs the thermal profile of the process between two measuring sites selected.